The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-29
A sHoE-TURNING CONTEST.
The Record of the Champion Of the
Country Beaten.
From, the Chicago Tribune.


Country Beaten.
From the Chicago Tribune.
ANYBODY who wishes to see the genuine
article in the way of workingmen should
have been at the Cavalry Armory recently
4 TO witness the shoe-tIlrning contest. The
contestants were SPLENDID specimens of mus
cular and skillful humanity. Since the
,,ecent shoe-turning contest at Detroit, in
which NJ. J. Dunn, of that city, defeated
.Tohn Cambell, of Buffalo, and won the
Il championship, the knights of the anvil all
A over the country have been anxious to beat
each other and the record made by the
6champion-100 shoes in one hour and forty
seven minutes. Several contests between
4 local favorites have been arranged
4 in Chicago, and last night the first
Of the matches came off. The contestants
4 were Mark Walsh, who works in Tom Shay IS
sbon at No. 379 Larrabee street, and John
fTunney, who does an honest days work in
N fine shop of j. n. Leonard at No. 907 West
y Madison street. Walsh is 5 feet and II inches
Young fellow, apparently not half the others
4 brawn or weight. Billy Lakeman was
master of ceremonies, John Fogarty was
Il indge for Walsh, and W. J. Kelley Judge for
Il fTTnnev, and Barney MCGUIRE was referee
N About g o'clock the contestants appeared
Il and were greeted with applause. Each was
4 accompanied by five helpers. Tunney and
4 his men wore brand-new' white undershirts
with a large red horseshoe on the breast,
and red and white leathern aprons. Walsh
4 and his men wore red undershirts, likewise
with the store creases still in them, and red
n aprons. The fires were started up in the
N four portable Tornado FORCES on the plat
n form. One helper on each side took his
q nlace at the forge, two others stood by the
second forge, while each contestant with his
q tool-placer and striker got close to the anvils
81 and stood ready for business. The conditions
of the match, which was for $500 and two
n thirds of the gate receipts, provided that
a the size of the iron was to be three-quarters
by three-eights ofan inch and II inches long,
IA every shoe to be turned over the horn with
3 hammer and sledge, then hemmed with
hammer. creased and punched, four holes
q TO be on the outside and three on the inside,
q and the shoe then to be put over the horn and
81 hemmed and cleaned off with the hammer
81 or sedge. The word was given at 9:13, and
amid a burst of cheers each man grasped his
redhot iron. Tunney turned his first shoe in
"a exactly % seconds, and Walsh finished
seconds behind. The new undershirts grew
wet and dirty, the clean faces grew black,
81 and the sweat ran in great streams down
brow and cheek With scarce a seconds
difference in time the men worked on, but it
became apparent that the smaller was gain
n ing slightly on his big rival. The big man
was strong and cool, but the little man was
IN quicker and quite as skillful.
In 81 minutes and Is seconds Tunney
turned his one hundredth shoe and began
work on the second side. Walsh was one
minute and AZ seconds and three shoes be-
hind Both men were working rapidly and
steadily, and the sound of the fall of the
completed shoes upon the iron flooring of
the stage was regular as the ticking of a
clock About this time the experts decided
that Tunney's forgemen were not heating
hisiron sufficiently, and that he was working
what they termed "cold iron" He seemed
to think SO himself, and was evidently
straining every muscle to. keep his grip.
For while the forgemen did better; but
there was evidently something wrong,
whereupon the sympathy of nearly every
one in the hall turned to the small man and
he was cheered TO the echo with every
stroke of his hammer. 1t was evident that
he was working hard and bets began to be
made that he would not last to the end
though everybody conceded that he was
ahead of the big man. When Tunney was
on his last ten the forgeman handed him g
shoe so cold that it was nearly black. A
roar and groan went up from the crowd
Tunney waved it back and dropped his ham
mer to arms length with a gesture of des
pair. The forgemen worked like mad and
handed it back. 1t was still black. Tunney
again refused it and the crowd groanec
again. In the meantime Walsh was turn.
ing shoe after shoe with mathematical
precision, and dead silence fell upon the
crowd. Then the forgemen handed over q
dazzling iron. Tunney leaped at it and
went to work. The crowd cheered and the
cry He'll beat him yeti" went up on ali
sides. A few moments more and the cry
went up, His last shoe!" Half a minute
latter the iron rang out upon the floor and
his striker sprang to the front of the plat
form and waved his brawny arm. The
spectators yelled in unison and promptly
and unanimously climbed over the reporters
and assembled the stage. The winners time
was hour ~ minutes and Is seconds
Walsh was beaten by Is sides and the
champions record was beaten by thirty-four
and three-quarters minutes. 1t was claimed
by some who had seen the shoes turned by
Dunn that the shoes turned last evening
were inferior, but the majority of the
sentiment seemed to be that the shoes were
all ~ IL